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My main problem with all of these though is when dealing with soft subs. I know nearly nothing about the actual process by which subtitles are added to videos, only that hard subs tend to survive conversions better.

When I try a total convert to mp4 through Videora or Format Factory soft subs will disappear entirely. If I use mk2vob to take a video out of its mkv container and spit it into an mp4 one I'll get a "completed (with warnings)" message and find out that the subs have changed to some kind of default font which is often hard to read.

What's the best way to make soft subs into hard subs or make sure soft subs survive a video conversion?

With this program, you only need to have it running and go to your PS3 and select the media server, then you can watch every type (or almost) on your PS3 via streaming without much quality loss.

Keep in mind that 720p and upper resolution videos can't be streamed well via wireless, so you better have a network cable right beside your PS3 :P

The only downside i got is that, at least for me, i can use custom softsubs like i have with every other player. It seems like that, for now, subtitles are stuck in one font type, but i don't think it matters much

NOTE: I could stream a few 720p MKVs via wireless flawlessly (could be 'cause of bitrate) but most of the times it lags a bit or even breaks the video. nothing that a pause and play doesn't solve but still...
NOTE2: I just reminded that a friend of mine said that he could watch files on his PSP via Remote PS3 flawlessly.

I already use Windows Media Player's Media Server functionality. Plus almost all stuff I download is at least 720p.

Hi i use the following:

The CCCP (codec pack), with vsfilter enabled.

I then either use meGUI (if you care about size and know how to encode)

OR

Videora PS3/Xbox/ipod/whatever(you can pick) converter.

Videora is the easiest to use. You just open the video in videora and select the highest (h.264) profile WITH avisynth. Then you go to settings, select your profile and edit it. You will have to go to advanced 1 and make sure subtitle is enabled. If your A/V goes out of sync make sure to enable convertfps. You can also set minimum and maximum bitrate. (advanced 2).

Videora is the only one (after megui, but that is for pro encoders) which supports embedded subs that i know of.

I then either use meGUI (if you care about size and know how to encode)

OR

Videora PS3/Xbox/ipod/whatever(you can pick) converter.

Videora is the easiest to use. You just open the video in videora and select the highest (h.264) profile WITH avisynth. Then you go to settings, select your profile and edit it. You will have to go to advanced 1 and make sure subtitle is enabled. If your A/V goes out of sync make sure to enable convertfps. You can also set minimum and maximum bitrate. (advanced 2).

Videora is the only one (after megui, but that is for pro encoders) which supports embedded subs that i know of.

Google some stuff

Just tried this and it shows up just fine on my iPhone. Will try it for my PS3 later. Thanks.

A quick search at avsforum.com for "ps3 maximum file size" suggests that files larger than 4 GB may be problematic. (This limit is not the one imposed by using FAT32 file systems on external devices.)

One solution you might try is to stream the files from the computer to the PS3 using one of the DLNA media servers. This one has been getting very positive reviews. I tried streaming from my Linux box to the PS3 with this server, and it worked fine except for the various limitation on what codecs the PS3 chooses to play. I was just experimenting though; normally I just play the files from the PC directly to my HDTV set.

I recommend a little browsing at avsforum.com and doom9.org, two excellent resources for learning about video conversion and consumer electronic devices.

A quick search at avsforum.com for "ps3 maximum file size" suggests that files larger than 4 GB may be problematic. (This limit is not the one imposed by using FAT32 file systems on external devices.)

One solution you might try is to stream the files from the computer to the PS3 using one of the DLNA media servers. This one has been getting very positive reviews. I tried streaming from my Linux box to the PS3 with this server, and it worked fine except for the various limitation on what codecs the PS3 chooses to play. I was just experimenting though; normally I just play the files from the PC directly to my HDTV set.

I recommend a little browsing at avsforum.com and doom9.org, two excellent resources for learning about video conversion and consumer electronic devices.

AnimeSuki seems to be the only place I can talk about this openly without getting banned.

First install everything and observe the following:
1. VSFilter: create a .bat file or use the windows command line: "regsvr32 VSFilter.dll"
2. Open Haali's properties and make sure that "Autoload VSFilter" is checked (As "AnimeFan188" already stated above)
3. Make sure you have all DirectShow codecs installed that are needed for the video. (Like CoreAVC or ffdshow for H264 video)

To convert a file:
1. Open the file in your favorite Media Player and note its framerate (This is important for VFR files). Don't forget that some players round 23.976 to 23.98...
2. Open windows notepad and enter the following:

Set the fps according to the one you noted in step 1
convertfps=true converts VFR to CFR (You can omit the "fps" and the "convertfps" parameters if you know your file is CFR. Most files are.)
3. Save the file as "YourFile.avs" and in the same folder as your mkv file.
4. Open MeGUI and load your script where it says "Avisynth Script" and close the opening preview window. (You can check if VSFilter was loaded here.)
5. Choose the profile you want to use under "Encoder settings". I'll guess "x264: Standalone-PS3-Xbox360_Fast" is probably the way to go. ( Click "Config" on the right to further tune the settings if you want. You could raise the bitrate (1000 may be a bit low for HD) and choosing "Const. Quality" instead of "Automated 2pass" may be a good way to save time)
6. Choose "RAWAVC" under file format
7. Click "Enqueue", go to "Queue" and click start. Once the job is done you may clear the list and close MeGUI.
8. Open mkvmerge GUI (From the MKVToolnix package), open your original file and uncheck the video. Then add the RAWAVC file you created in step 7 and move it to the position of the original video.
9. Mark the new video track, go to "Format Specifications" and set the FPS according to step 1 ( 24000/1001 =~ 23.976 )
10. Uncheck every subtitle track and all audio tracks except the one you want to keep. (So only the new video track and a single audio track should be checked)
11. Click on "Start Muxing"
12. Open and convert the file created in Step 11 with mkv2vob. If everything went right mkv2vob should only convert the audio (if necessary) and shouldn't touch the video.

OK, this wasn't very easy but it should provide a high quality and after you've done it once you should be able to do it quickly.
Hope it works for you!

Now I've found out that in order to do that with Format Factory you have to tell it which specific SSA file to use. How do I get the SSA file out of the container so I can pinpoint it?

1.) Download and install mkvtoolnix (Link in my post above)
2.) Download MKVExtractGUI and unpack it into the mkvtoolnix folder
3.) Open the file with MKVExtract GUI, check the Subtitle track (and all attachments, because they usually hold the fonts used) and extract